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Eurojank Games Are Pretty Good

Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
I don't know about you but I really like a lot of Eurojank games and even more than many western games with more Polish and budget.

Whether it's full blown games or mods, there's something about them that feels better than AAA typical company games especially when the Eurojank is an indie or AA title.
 

RedC

Member
such as pulp fiction GIF
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
I think Greedfall is a good example. Lots of jank to be had. But it's also somehow very endearing, with a way better soundtrack than it deserves.
Eurojank games are the best games since the resources you do not have to spend on fancy graphics you spend on writing, game systems, etc.
 

Dazraell

Member
I think Greedfall is a good example. Lots of jank to be had. But it's also somehow very endearing, with a way better soundtrack than it deserves.
Indeed, Greedfall is a great BioWare-like RPG, It had many shortcomings like repetitive environments (with some being literally copy-pasted lol) or issues with backtracking, but the setting with its unique lore, solid story and great soundtrack worked so well that they managed to overshadow these flaws
 

Edder1

Member
Just finished Amnesia The Bunker and what a game, has some of the most intense and atmosphere and immersive levels I've played in a while. You'll have to close your eyes to cheating AI and how it can break immersion, but overall it's one of the best survival horror games ever released.
 
I think that many Eurojank RPGs tend to ignore all diversity/woke bullshit and focus on the game itself. Also they don't cater to the broad audience so the games don't feel as hand-heldy as these high profile AAA RPGs.

I would say that the first Witcher game was also eurojank. So no wonder CDProjekt's later AAA games are so amazing.
 
You gotta buy Two Worlds Epic Edition on steam, its honestly my favorite eurojank game of all time, i like it better than Oblivion. The second two worlds not so much.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Two Worlds. I played some on X360 and it was great. If I remember correctly, there was none of that level scaling bullshit from Oblivion. I wouldn't mind a remake.

I didn't play Two Worlds 2, but at least the name is great.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
I would say that the first Witcher game was also eurojank. So no wonder CDProjekt's later AAA games are so amazing.

100%. Hell even the 2nd, really, but the first is prime Eurojank and it's wonderful. In a lot of ways I prefer it to 3, I think it has way more charm.
 

Dazraell

Member
Oh yeah, I forgot about Two Worlds. I played some on X360 and it was great. If I remember correctly, there was none of that level scaling bullshit from Oblivion. I wouldn't mind a remake.
Two Worlds devs were working on the third game, but I'm not sure if they are even still around as they haven't gave any updates in years
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Love eurojank games, especially Dontnod and Frogwares games such as Vampyr and Sinking City. Got Greedfall and Elex 2 on the back burner. Was a big fan of Two Worlds 2 back on the PS3. Bought it on GoG because I wanted better performance (it runs like ass on the PS3) but the fucking thing wouldn't work! I guess that's just how eurojank goes.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Gothic
Far Cry
Spec Ops The Line
Übersoldier
Two Worlds
Vietcong

There is some great eurojank out there!
First time, I am seeing someone on the internet mentioning this game. I think its great.

I would add NecroVision, which I am fairly certain was a technical precursor to Bulletstorm. Its from people close to People can Fly.
 

HL3.exe

Member
Hottake; eurojank games actually used to push design forward and are important/healthy for the industry overall. Eurojank means 'overly ambitious in it's mechanics/systems or sometimes themes, but unpolished/janky in execution due to understaffing or budget'

Games like Far Cry 1, STALKER or Gothic had overambitious design leaps that are now to this day picked up by bigger mainstream devs.

Things like the outpost system from Far Cry 1 (with enemy tagging with binoculars or and alarm system, they called it the 'veni vidi vici system'. All of that debut in 2004 by Crytek and Ubisoft took that concept and made it it's own), or the open-ended 'no fail-state' quest structure from Gothic, or the survival staples in STALKER that are now everywhere.
 
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Dazraell

Member
First time, I am seeing someone on the internet mentioning this game. I think its great.

I would add NecroVision, which I am fairly certain was a technical precursor to Bulletstorm. Its from people close to People can Fly.
I believe NecroVisioN was created by some former devs who worked at People Can Fly and left the company years before Bulletstorm (and Gears of War 1 PC port that preceeded it), so they probably weren't involved in its creation. These studios are also located in different cities. But what they had in common is Painkiller as some people from this studio worked on the first game, left the company and formed Farm 51 which later on worked on its remake. NecroVisioN was also claimed to be directly inspired by Painkiller
 

Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One

Am I the only one that played this game?

Eurojank
Open world
Solving mysteries

If that doesn’t sound cool to you, then I don’t know you.
Sinking City is another great Eurojank game with an open world and solving mysteries using the Lovecraft Mythos.
 

Kupfer

Member
First time, I am seeing someone on the internet mentioning this game. I think its great.

Haven't played it for years or almost decades, but I remember it being stupid fun with a gritty atmophere and cool superpower-effects.
Unfortunately, I can't buy it on Steam in my region. I once had a key which I couldn't redeem, so I gave it away here.

Would love to play Übersoldier I & II again.


EDIT:

Vivisector: Beast Within is also supposed to be good, I never got it back then. I could catch up on the Deck, I think it's abandonware by now.

And I remember just now that I still have a copy of the maybe jankiest eurojank I've ever played : Boiling Point: Road to Hell
It was still fun and had a lot of mechanics, but damn, it was a mess.

I remember that I had to buy the game solely because of this screenshot that was printed in some magazine at the time

J0bc5wT.jpeg


EDIT #2:
Ha, you can even buy it on Steam since 2023. Nice, maybe I'll have to revisit this "gem".
 
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Toots

Gold Member
Hottake; eurojank games actually used to push design forward and are important/healthy for the industry overall. Eurojank means 'overly ambitious in it's mechanics/systems or sometimes themes, but unpolished/janky in execution due to understaffing or budget'

Games like Far Cry 1, STALKER or Gothic had overambitious design leaps that are now to this day picked up by bigger mainstream devs.

Things like the outpost system from Far Cry 1 (with enemy tagging with binoculars or and alarm system, they called it the 'veni vidi vici system'. All of that debut in 2004 by Crytek and Ubisoft took that concept and made it it's own), or the open-ended 'no fail-state' quest structure from Gothic, or the survival staples in STALKER that are now everywhere.
That's not a hot take that's a god take
Eurojank devs are driven by passion and they make up for the technical knowledge they might not have with creativity and not caring about what mainstream devs say you can or cannot do.
There's a perfect Mark Twain quote for those kind of dudes : "They didn't know it was impossible so they did it".
 
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StueyDuck

Member
I don't know about you but I really like a lot of Eurojank games and even more than many western games with more Polish and budget.

Whether it's full blown games or mods, there's something about them that feels better than AAA typical company games especially when the Eurojank is an indie or AA title.
I mean Eurojank are named as such because they don't have the budget to fix the janky feel in animations and gameplay...

But the games themselves are usually fairly ambitious and have interesting components. It just depends on how much jank you can put up with.

As mentioned already here, greedfall is genuinely an entertaining "WRPG" like a BioWare game. However, Steelrising i tried to play the other day and it was just a terrible experience in the jank department and it's the same studio.
 
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I understand the term, but I'm not a big fan of it, because it sounds almost like 'lesser' games. Specially when polish is important...but it's not everything. Better a rough diamond than a polished rock.

That said, well...the first two Gothic games are among my favourite RPGs of all time, same of S.T.A.L.K.E.R about FPS games. And I consider the first The Witcher game one of the best three seventh gen RPGs (New Vegas and the original Dragon Age are the other two).
 
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